Synthesis of a chondroitin sulfate disaccharide library and a GAG-binding protein interaction analysis

Chondroitin sulfate (CS), which belongs to the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) superfamily, is a linear sulfated polysaccharide involved in various biological processes. CS structure is very heterogeneous and contains various sulfation patterns owing to the multiple and random enzymatic modifications that occur during its biosynthesis. The resultant microdomain structure in the CS chain interacts with specific biomolecules to regulate biological functions. Therefore, an analysis of the structure–activity relationship of CS at the molecular level is necessary to clarify their biofunctions. In this study, we designed the common intermediate possessing an orthogonally removable protective group and systematically synthesized all 16 types of CS disaccharide structure generated by sulfation. In addition, we demonstrated the on-time analysis of the binding properties of GAG-binding proteins using ‘Sugar Chip’ immobilized CS disaccharide structures by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging, indicating that our chip technology is effective for the evaluation of binding properties.

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